Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
My students gave their “Why I’m a Christian” speeches last week.
FUN….I’m a Christian because it’s fun (aside from the dying daily and taking up your cross part). My student, with tongue-in cheek, proceeded to use the word FUN as an acronym to describe why he believes in God.
I’m a believer because Christianity is the only religion that describes reality.
I’m a Christian because I’ve been seized by the power of a great affection (a phrase coined over 200 years ago to describe one’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Still relevant to my student).
These reflect some of the reasons my Public Speaking students presented to our class as to why they follow Christ. Compelling, honest, diverse. Everyone who follows Jesus has a unique story, as varied a combination of experiences as our fingerprints. Yet we share this common factor. We have surrendered our will to God, believing he will transform the raw material of our lives into something beautiful. Actually, something beyond beautiful, something eternal.
It’s a process that continues until the day we take our last breath. And if you are at all like me, you realize you have a lot of raw material for him to work with! An awareness that would overwhelm me were it not for the “power of his great affection.”
Paul assured the Philippians that God would complete the work of turning them into a new creation. He prayed accordingly that they would increase in love and wisdom. That they would align more and more with what is excellent, pure and blameless (Phil. 1:9-10). He discerned they still had room to grow. So do we.
You’ve probably heard Larry the Cable Guy’s signature phrase, “Get ‘er done.” He uses it in motivating people to accomplish their goals. A worthy mindset to have in life. But the interesting thing about Christianity is that we can’t finish the work God started in us on our own.. Self-attempts to perfect ourselves produce anything but my student’s acronym of FUN.
We need God’s help to become all he designed us to be. So trust him. You can be sure he will finish the work he started in you. And he promises to “get ‘er done.”